Therachon Founders Spin Out New Rare Disease Biotech With €31M Investment

The founders of Swiss biotech Therachon have launched a new company called VectivBio, also based in Basel, with €31M funding to develop drugs for rare diseases. The spin-out comes after Therachon was acquired by Pfizer last year in a deal worth up to €700M. Therachon’s CEO, CBO, CFO and CMO will all move to the new company, which is independent of Pfizer, although the big pharma does own some equity in the new venture. Other funding comes from life science investors Versant Ventures, Novo Holdings and Orbimed, as well as several others. Therachon’s lead candidate is a drug to boost bone growth in people born with the genetic condition achondroplasia. The company’s second candidate was a drug to help nutrient absorption in patients with serious bowel diseases, but it will now become the lead candidate for VectivBio.